Whether classical ballet or modern dance, the floor on which a performer is to dance must fulfill several rigid requirements. It must be smooth, continuous, and fairly hard, and it must be somewhat springy. This can be achieved by appropriate construction, usually of wood, in a dance studio.
Dance performances or dance practices held in areas not otherwise used for dance necessitate a temporary floor construction that must be portable. The typical such arrangement is simply a low stage formed by a plurality of elements each of whose upper surface is formed by a plywood panel which may have an individual frame. The resilience of such a construction varies perceptibly between the edge and center of each panel, and the panels often do not mate neatly and do not stay together once assembled unless screw-type clamps are employed.
It has also been suggested to use a construction of sleepers atop an elastomeric sheet and screwed to floor boards. Such a floor has been found unusable atop, for instance, a concrete floor.